President Donald Trump signed the Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Amendments Act of 2025 on Oct. 15, changing the framework established under the tribe’s 2010 water-rights settlement.

U.S. Rep. Troy Downing, Crow Chairman Frank White Clay and Sen. Gayle Lammers gathered at Yellowtail Dam for an event recognizing the new law. Downing said the occasion concerned “access to clean, reliable water.”

Regional project authority

Rather than relying on a single large construction plan, the amended settlement permits the Crow Tribe to pursue smaller water projects in different areas. Eligible work may include drinking-water facilities, well upgrades, water storage and distribution systems, and wastewater treatment.

The measure neither grants the tribe additional water rights nor authorizes new federal appropriations. Its changes concern how the existing settlement can be carried out.

The 2010 agreement had contemplated a pipeline running from Yellowtail Afterbay to reservation communities. That proposal encountered obstacles tied to obtaining easements over approximately 2.4 million acres.

Water conditions and hydropower

Roughly one-half of households on the Crow Reservation either contend with contaminated water or do not have a dependable supply. Wells serve about 40% of homes, and more than 39% of those wells have registered above safe drinking-water thresholds.

White Clay, who became chairman in 2020, said, “I’ve hauled water my whole life.” The smaller projects could provide employment, help bring businesses to the reservation and contribute to economic development.

The law also preserves the Crow Tribe’s exclusive chance to seek hydropower development at Yellowtail Afterbay Dam until 2030.

Downing identified the Crow Tribe work alongside water and sewer projects near Fort Peck and the proposed Northern Montana Water Security Act. That proposal concerns infrastructure in the St. Mary and Milk River watersheds and would create a water settlement for the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation.